Funicular goods railway - help!!
Discussion
Hello All
Update as promised. An enormous thank you to PHers Phil and Mark for their time today and their diagnosis of the problem and proposals for the solution. Their assessment is that everything is fixable or replaceable and relatively easily so. The motor will be sent off to be rewound, new electrics, new chain for the track and various bits of wood and railway sleepers to secure the track and repair the engine room etc are needed. All of the machinery will be stripped and cleaned and painted.
The good news is that the gear box is in good working order and the braking system to stop the trolley careering down the tracks is functioning. The track too is solid. The chain mechanism whilst rusty is all working.
So all in all it's pretty positive. Next steps are to clear the track etc of any remaining vegetation and to have it jet washed to remove years of dirt and to get all the hardware ordered or repaired.
I'll send photos as work progresses and thanks again to you all and particularly Phil and Mark. They have been amazing. I'm sure that they will add their own comments to this thread, if they have anything technical to offer that might be of interest.
Update as promised. An enormous thank you to PHers Phil and Mark for their time today and their diagnosis of the problem and proposals for the solution. Their assessment is that everything is fixable or replaceable and relatively easily so. The motor will be sent off to be rewound, new electrics, new chain for the track and various bits of wood and railway sleepers to secure the track and repair the engine room etc are needed. All of the machinery will be stripped and cleaned and painted.
The good news is that the gear box is in good working order and the braking system to stop the trolley careering down the tracks is functioning. The track too is solid. The chain mechanism whilst rusty is all working.
So all in all it's pretty positive. Next steps are to clear the track etc of any remaining vegetation and to have it jet washed to remove years of dirt and to get all the hardware ordered or repaired.
I'll send photos as work progresses and thanks again to you all and particularly Phil and Mark. They have been amazing. I'm sure that they will add their own comments to this thread, if they have anything technical to offer that might be of interest.
Hello All. Sorry for the radio silence I've had a few things going on that has limited progress on the funicular. But just to provide a quick update - we reckon the motor might be ok - it has an electric brake that needs to be activated through the circuitry that operates the whole system. PHer Mark is working on repairing/ updating the board so we can test the motor. We will need new switches etc. Otherwise the motor will be sent off to be rewound. 125m of roller chain has been ordered as has a load of sleepers and timber to shore up the track and rebuild the roof of the engine room. PHer Phil has taken all of the metal work away to derust and repaint.
In terms of history we have been able to establish that the funicular was installed in 1995 by a specialist lift manufacturers. This is consistent with some of the views expressed in this thread about the motor and braking system.
I reckon therefore that in 2-3 weeks we will be good to go with reassembling it all and hopefully getting it working.
I am as ever hugely indebted to Phil and Mark for their expertise, time and efforts.
I'll keep you apprised of progress and will post pictures as we start to put the railway back together again.
In terms of history we have been able to establish that the funicular was installed in 1995 by a specialist lift manufacturers. This is consistent with some of the views expressed in this thread about the motor and braking system.
I reckon therefore that in 2-3 weeks we will be good to go with reassembling it all and hopefully getting it working.
I am as ever hugely indebted to Phil and Mark for their expertise, time and efforts.
I'll keep you apprised of progress and will post pictures as we start to put the railway back together again.
Hi All
A quick update on progress with the funicular. I've uploaded some photos too (https://flickr.com/photos/127288954@N08/sets/72157646547042104).
The track is now repaired with sleepers bolted in place to replace the rotting old ones. The track has been jet washed to within an inch of its life and is now free of years of dirt and weeds.
The motor has been rewound and we are just working out how the circuit board hooks up to the motor. There are various timer switches that need working out. Mark is in charge of this part of the project and we are making good progress.
A new handrail has been erected and the engine room is being tarted up. The hardware - gearbox etc - will start going back in shortly. 125m of roller chain will follow. The mechanical stuff is Phik's territory and you'll have seen his post from a couple of weeks ago. Since then the carriage has been built and other bits and pieces fabricated and painted.
Next steps will be to pull it all together. New electrical component are on order and it won't be long before we are testing everything. It's a shining example of what three men with varying skills - some more helpful than others (you can guess where I fit) - can do with a bit of hard work, imagination and resourcefulness.
The aim is to have it up and running by Christmas mainly because I've told my son that the railway is how Santa will deliver his presents.
I'll keep you posted.
Oli
A quick update on progress with the funicular. I've uploaded some photos too (https://flickr.com/photos/127288954@N08/sets/72157646547042104).
The track is now repaired with sleepers bolted in place to replace the rotting old ones. The track has been jet washed to within an inch of its life and is now free of years of dirt and weeds.
The motor has been rewound and we are just working out how the circuit board hooks up to the motor. There are various timer switches that need working out. Mark is in charge of this part of the project and we are making good progress.
A new handrail has been erected and the engine room is being tarted up. The hardware - gearbox etc - will start going back in shortly. 125m of roller chain will follow. The mechanical stuff is Phik's territory and you'll have seen his post from a couple of weeks ago. Since then the carriage has been built and other bits and pieces fabricated and painted.
Next steps will be to pull it all together. New electrical component are on order and it won't be long before we are testing everything. It's a shining example of what three men with varying skills - some more helpful than others (you can guess where I fit) - can do with a bit of hard work, imagination and resourcefulness.
The aim is to have it up and running by Christmas mainly because I've told my son that the railway is how Santa will deliver his presents.
I'll keep you posted.
Oli
https://flickr.com/photos/127288954@N08/sets/72157...
Try this link.
And it's of course Phil not Phik! Sorry Phil
Try this link.
And it's of course Phil not Phik! Sorry Phil
Im so sorry everyone for not updating this. Mrs Funicular has been very unwell and we've had a lot going on as a result. Thankfully she is better now. The railway is working well, with a few on-going teething problems as old bits not replaced during repair start to die. We have a bit of an issue at the moment with failing capacitors and resistors and trying to establish the right values for the motor for it to work as effectively as possible. I'll post a video and pictures later today of the funicular in action.
Once again, I'm sorry for being such a bad poster. I'm as ever indebted to everyone who contributed to this thread and provided helpful advice and in particular to Phil who continues to provide expert consultancy. He has gone way beyond what anyone could or should reasonably expect.
Once again, I'm sorry for being such a bad poster. I'm as ever indebted to everyone who contributed to this thread and provided helpful advice and in particular to Phil who continues to provide expert consultancy. He has gone way beyond what anyone could or should reasonably expect.
Im so sorry everyone for not updating this. Mrs Funicular has been very unwell and we've had a lot going on as a result. Thankfully she is better now. The railway is working well, with a few on-going teething problems as old bits not replaced during repair start to die. We have a bit of an issue at the moment with failing capacitors and resistors and trying to establish the right values for the motor for it to work as effectively as possible. I'll post a video and pictures later today of the funicular in action.
Once again, I'm sorry for being such a bad poster. I'm as ever indebted to everyone who contributed to this thread and provided helpful advice and in particular to Phil who continues to provide expert consultancy. He has gone way beyond what anyone could or should reasonably expect.
Once again, I'm sorry for being such a bad poster. I'm as ever indebted to everyone who contributed to this thread and provided helpful advice and in particular to Phil who continues to provide expert consultancy. He has gone way beyond what anyone could or should reasonably expect.
https://vimeo.com/127423255
https://vimeo.com/127422939
https://vimeo.com/127418089
https://vimeo.com/127423001
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127288954@N08/shares...
Ok. Here, I hope,are links to pictures and videos of the funicular. I've included a picture of the motor and you'll see the slightly makeshift approach to connecting up the capacitors. This is temporary whilst we solve the problem with the values. It works but if there is anything too heavy (me for example!) then it needs a push before the motor takes over and drives the carriage up hill. There are a few modifications to be made at some point - swing doors on the carriage to make it easier to get stuff in and maybe a rain cover too. We also need to tidy up around the track itself but we've had other priorities lately.
It is though a huge success - if you look back at the first photos I posted you'll see what a sorry state everything was in. When we first moved in you couldn't even see the track there was so much ivy and weeds! But thanks to hard work and the expertise of PHers Phil and Mark it's up and running and proving invaluable. The supermarket delivery men now know how to work it and ask to get the delivery so they can play with the train! As Phil kept saying throughout the work - 'nothing is impossible'. And that's certainly true if you are a piston head member! Thanks again everyone. Next up is getting the pond and waterfall up and running and terracing the slope by the side of the railway tracks. Onwards and upwards - pun intended.
https://vimeo.com/127422939
https://vimeo.com/127418089
https://vimeo.com/127423001
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127288954@N08/shares...
Ok. Here, I hope,are links to pictures and videos of the funicular. I've included a picture of the motor and you'll see the slightly makeshift approach to connecting up the capacitors. This is temporary whilst we solve the problem with the values. It works but if there is anything too heavy (me for example!) then it needs a push before the motor takes over and drives the carriage up hill. There are a few modifications to be made at some point - swing doors on the carriage to make it easier to get stuff in and maybe a rain cover too. We also need to tidy up around the track itself but we've had other priorities lately.
It is though a huge success - if you look back at the first photos I posted you'll see what a sorry state everything was in. When we first moved in you couldn't even see the track there was so much ivy and weeds! But thanks to hard work and the expertise of PHers Phil and Mark it's up and running and proving invaluable. The supermarket delivery men now know how to work it and ask to get the delivery so they can play with the train! As Phil kept saying throughout the work - 'nothing is impossible'. And that's certainly true if you are a piston head member! Thanks again everyone. Next up is getting the pond and waterfall up and running and terracing the slope by the side of the railway tracks. Onwards and upwards - pun intended.
Hi All. So we have a problem with the funicular and I'm returning therefore to piston heads for advice. The two original PHers who helped so much with it are swamped with work so I'm after a big more guidance.
The motor is the problem. It's a single phase brake motor which has a gearbox attached to drive the cogs that move the chain and therefore the carriage up and down the track. The motor has two capacitors both of which have blown. They were run capacitors with 16uf and 40uf ratings. I've replaced them and it worked for a bit - although it needed a push to get it going if it had any weight in it- but it's now stopped working altogether. The motor hums but just won't start. I've wondered whether I need a start capacitor and a run capacitor rathern than two runs but I'm not sure if that would help or what rating I should get.
I'm increasingly coming to the view that a new motor and gearbox is the best option. It would require a bit of engineering to get the shaft holding the chain cogs attached to the gearbox but I've assumed that's not too tricky - correct me if I'm wrong.... The motor just seems a bit unreliable - you might remember it was the original one that I had rewound - and given that it's what does the leg work I need something I can rely upon. I'm not sure if I need another brake motor - I'm told they are rare in single phase and expensive, or whether I can get away with a standard one and rely on the tension in the chain to hold the carriage in place. It sits quite happily in the middle of the slope without the motor working. I think I would need a motor and gearbox as the current system has a bespoke fitting on the shaft connecting the motor to the inner workings of the gearbox.
I'd be grateful for any advice/thoughts. Having had it working we (and tescos delivery men) really miss it!
Let me know if you need any more info/pictures etc.
The motor is the problem. It's a single phase brake motor which has a gearbox attached to drive the cogs that move the chain and therefore the carriage up and down the track. The motor has two capacitors both of which have blown. They were run capacitors with 16uf and 40uf ratings. I've replaced them and it worked for a bit - although it needed a push to get it going if it had any weight in it- but it's now stopped working altogether. The motor hums but just won't start. I've wondered whether I need a start capacitor and a run capacitor rathern than two runs but I'm not sure if that would help or what rating I should get.
I'm increasingly coming to the view that a new motor and gearbox is the best option. It would require a bit of engineering to get the shaft holding the chain cogs attached to the gearbox but I've assumed that's not too tricky - correct me if I'm wrong.... The motor just seems a bit unreliable - you might remember it was the original one that I had rewound - and given that it's what does the leg work I need something I can rely upon. I'm not sure if I need another brake motor - I'm told they are rare in single phase and expensive, or whether I can get away with a standard one and rely on the tension in the chain to hold the carriage in place. It sits quite happily in the middle of the slope without the motor working. I think I would need a motor and gearbox as the current system has a bespoke fitting on the shaft connecting the motor to the inner workings of the gearbox.
I'd be grateful for any advice/thoughts. Having had it working we (and tescos delivery men) really miss it!
Let me know if you need any more info/pictures etc.
Oh one other point. A motor seller I spoke to said something about checking the power supply to the motor because if that's dropping when the motor starts it often can cause the humming but not starting symptoms I've mentioned. I've not done that - not sure I know how - but does that sound like that could be the cause of the problem?
Hi All. Is it a really four and a half years since I first posted about this!? Thanks to however bumped it back on to the forum - it brought back a lot of great memories of getting it all working. Sadly the motor bit the dust a couple of years ago and the electrics became increasingly unreliable (remember I just provided the manual labour whilst Phil and Mark provided the expertise). I therefore took the decision to simplify the set up and bought a heavy duty winch instead - the winch pulls the box up the slope and the gradient and weight of the box means the winch controls its descent. So not quite in the spirit of pistonheads I am afraid but at least it all still works and continues to serve us extremely well. We will never forget the amount of time and effort that Phil and Mark put in and much of their hard work still remains in place. I have to say though that the videos of the domestic cable car set ups makes me think I should perhaps be a little more ambitious. But at the moment home schooling an 8 and 3 year old and trying to regulate barristers at the same time means I have to keep those ambitions in check for now. Maintaining social distance from delivery drivers is a breeze though. Driver puts the stuff in the box at the bottom and we collect it 30m away at the top!
Yes, chains in situ and oiled - I have everything from before just need to sort a motor and the electrics out (three phase seems the way to go) but just haven’t had the time to get to grips with what was needed and to work out if I could do it without any expert help. So took the quick and dirty option for now, and which works perfectly well even if it’s not quite as cool as when we had the motor doing the work.
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